With University of Rhode Island Professor of Entomology Tom Mather warning that a tough tick season is looming this spring and summer, he also wants you to know that help is as close as the Internet or cellular data by using his TickSpotters program. With your smartphone or camera, simply take a photo of a… Read more »

The revised field identification sheet for grubs from the Michigan State University Extension, Department of Entomology will assist in identification and gives information about typical crops or situations affected by different species. In summary, at this time of the year: Lighter-textured fields and parts of fields (e.g., sandy knolls) often are a focal point for… Read more »

Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) continued to push the United States’ line of defense against invasive pests and diseases further offshore, allowing action to be taken against pests hitchhiking on or in imported goods before they reached U.S. borders. They fought back against the spread of damaging pests such as exotic fruit flies, citrus greening,… Read more »

Available funds include approximately $2 million for Lead Technical Studies awards and $5 million for Healthy Homes Technical Studies awards. The goal of the Lead Technical Studies grant program is to gain knowledge to improve the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of methods for evaluation and control of residential lead-based paint hazards. The Healthy Homes Technical Studies… Read more »

The ESA 2018 Annual Meeting in Vancouver will host the first ever “P-IE Student Symposium,” titled “Pollinator and Invasive Species Science Policy Field Tours: A Melting Pot of Efforts Promoting Protection of our Food Supply.” This symposium will recap knowledge and experiences gained from the tours and build upon the two P-IE initiatives: Science Policy… Read more »

Almost everyone has been bitten by a mosquito, tick, or flea. These can be vectors for spreading pathogens (germs). A person who gets bitten by a vector and gets sick has a vector-borne disease, like dengue, Zika, Lyme, or plague. Between 2004 and 2016, more than 640,000 cases of these diseases were reported, and 9… Read more »

IPM Star certification was awarded in April to Plano, Conroe, East Central and Killeen independent school districts for consistent exemplary marks on the institute’s 37-point evaluation that determines an IPM Star certification includes markers like cleanliness for preempting infestation, pest reporting protocols, and pest-control/staff preparedness. The four districts join Spring ISD, the only other Texas school district to have… Read more »

The FY 2018 Congressional Appropriations bill signed into law on March 23, 2018 was accompanied by House and Senate Appropriations Committee reports that include more than a dozen directives for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve their programs for surveillance, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment… Read more »

The Environmental Protection Agency is extending the public comment period on revised respirator descriptions for pesticide labels. Please submit comments by June 11, 2018, to opprespiratortable@epa.gov.  EPA is making these revisions, with the encouragement of state regulatory agencies, as part of our efforts to: Bring the respirator descriptions on pesticide labels into conformance with the… Read more »

Knouse Foods Water Treatment Facility